This invention relates to a cleanup kit and method designed to be used by a person walking a dog or other pet to remove any litter deposited by the animal and then to rinse and sanitize the area. The method also provides for the flushing and neutralizing of animal urine.
A longstanding problem in urban and suburban areas involves dog owners who walk their pets but fail to clean up litter left by their animals. Large cities such as New York and Paris clean up literally tons of dog litter each day from the streets. Such litter is objectionable from many aspects including that of being an environmental health hazard. It is well known that animal feces contains harmful parasites and bacteria capable of causing severe health problems. Persons who walk on sidewalks or grass so littered may pick up such disease causing parasites and bacteria on their shoes and then transmit them into homes where they may be wiped off on rugs and carpets on which small children may play. Children playing on grass and other areas contaminated by dog litter have contracted serious illness from dog litter.
In residential areas there are few experiences more aggravating than to step in dog feces left in the grass along the sidewalk. Homeowners observing someone allowing a dog to litter on their nicely manicured lawn rightfully become upset.
While some dog owners make a attempt to pick up litter deposited by their animals it appears that the vast majority of persons walking dogs carry nothing with them to clean up their animals litter and are thus unprepared when such happens. It is painfully evident when such persons are observed that somewhere in that community animal feces will be deposited and which will then create an environmental nuisance and health hazard.
Local governments pass ordnances against such littering and homeowner associations pressure dog owners to clean up any litter that their pets deposit in the neighborhood, but with limited success. Citizens who complain of dog littering are advised to videotape or photograph dog owners and their animals in the act of littering in order to provide evidence for use in court to prosecute the dog owner.
Another serious aspect of dog litter is that it is washed away by the rain and enters untreated into local streams and rivers creating a water contamination problem. In the county of Arlington, Va. it was reported in a local newspaper that upward of 11,400 pounds of untreated dog waste washed into the creek system each day. The reported result was that area streams contained a high level of fecal coliform bacteria rendering such unsafe for contact by humans.
Some persons do attempt to pick up litter deposited by their animals. However, it is usually impossible to remove all of the litter. Thus, some portion is left behind in the form of a residue or smear adhering to the grass or concrete surface which, even though less of a problem, is still a nuisance and health hazard. Many find it inconvenient to carry litter pickup items and simply use a stick to push the litter into the street gutters where they are eventually washed away untreated.